The periodicity and recurrence of solar eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). When two eclipses are separated by a period of one Saros, they share a very similar geometry. The two eclipses occur at the same node[1] with the Moon at nearly the same distance from Earth and at the same time of year. Thus, the Saros is useful for organizing eclipses into families or series. Each series typically lasts 12 to 13 centuries and contains 70 or more eclipses. Every saros series begins with a number of partial eclipses near one of Earth's polar regions. The series will then produce several dozen central[2] eclipses before ending with a group of partial eclipses near the opposite pole. For more information, see Periodicity of Solar Eclipses.
Solar eclipses of Saros 50 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -1201 Feb 11. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0097 Apr 01. The total duration of Saros series 50 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1201 Feb 11 18:52:54 TD Last Eclipse = 0097 Apr 01 05:33:53 TD Duration of Saros 50 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 50 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 50 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 30 | 41.1% |
| Annular | A | 22 | 30.1% |
| Total | T | 18 | 24.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.1% |
Umbral eclipses (annular, total and hybrid) can be further classified as either: 1) Central (two limits), 2) Central (one limit) or 3) Non-Central (one limit). The statistical distribution of these classes in Saros series 50 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 50 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 42 | 97.7% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 73 eclipses in Saros 50: 8P 22A 3H 18T 22P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 50 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 50 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1039 May 19 | 03m54s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0679 Dec 21 | 00m14s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0462 Apr 30 | 05m13s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0606 Feb 03 | 01m53s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0624 Jan 23 | 01m18s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0660 Jan 02 | 00m14s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0282 Aug 16 | - | 0.98770 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1201 Feb 11 | - | 0.05402 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 50. A description or explanation of each parameter listed in the catalog can be found in Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series.
Several fields in the catalog link to web pages or files containing additional information for each eclipse (for the years -1999 through +3000). The following gives a brief explanation of each link.
For an animation showing how the eclipse path changes with each member of the series, see Animation of Saros 50.
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat Long Alt Width Dur.
s ° ° ° km
01906 -35 -1201 Feb 11 18:52:54 29054 -39590 Pb -1.5351 0.0540 69.5S 170.1E 0
01951 -34 -1183 Feb 22 02:06:01 28708 -39367 P -1.4909 0.1267 70.3S 47.7E 0
01997 -33 -1165 Mar 05 09:07:32 28364 -39144 P -1.4370 0.2165 71.0S 72.2W 0
02043 -32 -1147 Mar 15 16:03:24 28022 -38921 P -1.3779 0.3161 71.5S 168.7E 0
02089 -31 -1129 Mar 26 22:49:48 27682 -38698 P -1.3101 0.4314 71.8S 51.8E 0
02134 -30 -1111 Apr 06 05:31:29 27344 -38475 P -1.2378 0.5555 71.8S 64.1W 0
02178 -29 -1093 Apr 17 12:06:21 27008 -38252 P -1.1588 0.6923 71.6S 178.2W 0
02221 -28 -1075 Apr 27 18:39:41 26675 -38029 P -1.0776 0.8341 71.1S 68.5E 0
02264 -27 -1057 May 09 01:09:50 26343 -37806 As -0.9924 0.9527 66.3S 53.3W 5 - 03m47s
02307 -26 -1039 May 19 07:39:42 26014 -37583 A -0.9059 0.9606 46.8S 174.0W 25 338 03m54s
02351 -25 -1021 May 30 14:10:31 25686 -37360 A -0.8187 0.9655 34.9S 79.7E 35 217 03m49s
02393 -24 -1003 Jun 09 20:44:45 25361 -37137 A -0.7329 0.9694 25.3S 24.6W 43 162 03m38s
02434 -23 -0985 Jun 21 03:23:23 25037 -36914 A -0.6495 0.9724 17.4S 128.6W 49 130 03m25s
02475 -22 -0967 Jul 01 10:07:18 24716 -36691 A -0.5693 0.9748 10.9S 127.1E 55 110 03m09s
02516 -21 -0949 Jul 12 16:59:24 24397 -36468 A -0.4944 0.9765 5.8S 21.6E 60 96 02m54s
02557 -20 -0931 Jul 22 23:59:33 24080 -36245 A -0.4248 0.9778 2.1S 85.4W 65 87 02m41s
02597 -19 -0913 Aug 03 07:08:24 23765 -36022 A -0.3615 0.9786 0.2N 166.0E 69 81 02m29s
02637 -18 -0895 Aug 13 14:27:09 23452 -35799 A -0.3054 0.9792 1.2N 55.1E 72 78 02m19s
02678 -17 -0877 Aug 24 21:56:33 23141 -35576 A -0.2573 0.9795 0.9N 58.3W 75 75 02m12s
02719 -16 -0859 Sep 04 05:36:46 22833 -35353 A -0.2170 0.9797 0.4S 174.5W 77 74 02m07s
02759 -15 -0841 Sep 15 13:26:13 22526 -35130 A -0.1834 0.9799 2.7S 66.9E 79 73 02m02s
02799 -14 -0823 Sep 25 21:26:40 22221 -34907 A -0.1582 0.9802 5.7S 54.7W 81 71 01m58s
02840 -13 -0805 Oct 07 05:36:11 21919 -34684 A -0.1398 0.9808 9.2S 178.5W 82 69 01m53s
02881 -12 -0787 Oct 17 13:53:58 21618 -34461 A -0.1274 0.9817 13.1S 55.6E 83 65 01m47s
02922 -11 -0769 Oct 28 22:18:09 21320 -34238 A -0.1195 0.9829 17.0S 71.8W 83 61 01m40s
02963 -10 -0751 Nov 08 06:48:08 21023 -34015 A -0.1155 0.9848 20.8S 159.7E 83 54 01m29s
03005 -09 -0733 Nov 19 15:22:07 20729 -33792 A -0.1140 0.9871 24.2S 30.7E 83 46 01m16s
03049 -08 -0715 Nov 29 23:57:18 20437 -33569 A -0.1130 0.9900 27.0S 98.2W 83 35 00m59s
03094 -07 -0697 Dec 11 08:33:44 20147 -33346 A -0.1121 0.9935 29.0S 133.0E 83 23 00m39s
03139 -06 -0679 Dec 21 17:07:55 19859 -33123 A -0.1090 0.9977 30.0S 5.2E 84 8 00m14s
03184 -05 -0660 Jan 02 01:39:34 19573 -32900 H -0.1028 1.0023 29.7S 121.9W 84 8 00m14s
03229 -04 -0642 Jan 12 10:05:24 19289 -32677 H -0.0912 1.0075 28.2S 112.2E 85 26 00m45s
03275 -03 -0624 Jan 23 18:26:58 19007 -32454 H -0.0754 1.0131 25.5S 13.1W 86 45 01m18s
03321 -02 -0606 Feb 03 02:41:26 18727 -32231 T -0.0533 1.0190 21.7S 137.2W 87 65 01m53s
03368 -01 -0588 Feb 14 10:48:38 18450 -32008 T -0.0244 1.0251 16.8S 99.7E 88 85 02m29s
03416 00 -0570 Feb 24 18:48:18 18174 -31785 T 0.0115 1.0313 11.2S 22.2W 89 106 03m04s
03462 01 -0552 Mar 07 02:40:48 17900 -31562 Tm 0.0541 1.0374 4.8S 142.8W 87 126 03m38s
03507 02 -0534 Mar 18 10:26:34 17629 -31339 T 0.1029 1.0433 2.1N 97.8E 84 145 04m08s
03552 03 -0516 Mar 28 18:05:08 17360 -31116 T 0.1583 1.0489 9.5N 20.1W 81 164 04m34s
03597 04 -0498 Apr 09 01:38:45 17085 -30893 T 0.2186 1.0540 17.1N 136.8W 77 183 04m54s
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat Long Alt Width Dur.
s ° ° ° km
03642 05 -0480 Apr 19 09:07:31 16766 -30670 T 0.2839 1.0585 25.0N 107.5E 73 201 05m07s
03686 06 -0462 Apr 30 16:32:38 16456 -30447 T 0.3529 1.0624 32.9N 6.8W 69 218 05m13s
03730 07 -0444 May 10 23:55:15 16155 -30224 T 0.4247 1.0654 40.9N 120.0W 65 236 05m11s
03774 08 -0426 May 22 07:16:55 15862 -30001 T 0.4979 1.0676 48.7N 128.2E 60 255 05m04s
03816 09 -0408 Jun 01 14:38:54 15577 -29778 T 0.5714 1.0689 56.3N 18.0E 55 274 04m51s
03858 10 -0390 Jun 12 22:01:00 15299 -29555 T 0.6452 1.0693 63.4N 89.3W 50 297 04m35s
03900 11 -0372 Jun 23 05:26:41 15028 -29332 T 0.7165 1.0686 69.5N 167.3E 44 323 04m17s
03939 12 -0354 Jul 04 12:55:08 14763 -29109 T 0.7859 1.0671 74.1N 71.5E 38 357 03m58s
03978 13 -0336 Jul 14 20:29:37 14504 -28886 T 0.8505 1.0646 75.8N 17.3W 31 405 03m38s
04019 14 -0318 Jul 26 04:08:04 14252 -28663 T 0.9118 1.0610 74.2N 105.6W 24 494 03m17s
04060 15 -0300 Aug 05 11:55:06 14004 -28440 T 0.9664 1.0562 69.9N 159.6E 14 748 02m52s
04101 16 -0282 Aug 16 19:47:49 13763 -28217 P 1.0166 0.9877 61.9N 62.2E 0
04141 17 -0264 Aug 27 03:49:10 13526 -27994 P 1.0597 0.9038 61.4N 68.0W 0
04181 18 -0246 Sep 07 11:57:32 13294 -27771 P 1.0974 0.8308 61.0N 160.1E 0
04222 19 -0228 Sep 17 20:15:24 13067 -27548 P 1.1272 0.7730 60.8N 26.0E 0
04263 20 -0210 Sep 29 04:40:21 12845 -27325 P 1.1518 0.7256 60.8N 109.9W 0
04304 21 -0192 Oct 09 13:12:43 12626 -27102 P 1.1705 0.6895 60.9N 112.5E 0
04346 22 -0174 Oct 20 21:51:48 12413 -26879 P 1.1840 0.6635 61.2N 26.9W 0
04390 23 -0156 Oct 31 06:37:13 12202 -26656 P 1.1922 0.6476 61.6N 168.0W 0
04432 24 -0138 Nov 11 15:26:07 11996 -26433 P 1.1981 0.6362 62.2N 50.0E 0
04475 25 -0120 Nov 22 00:18:07 11794 -26210 P 1.2013 0.6299 62.9N 93.0W 0
04518 26 -0102 Dec 03 09:10:52 11595 -25987 P 1.2041 0.6244 63.8N 123.6E 0
04561 27 -0084 Dec 13 18:04:07 11399 -25764 P 1.2064 0.6199 64.8N 20.2W 0
04606 28 -0066 Dec 25 02:53:42 11206 -25541 P 1.2115 0.6103 65.8N 163.5W 0
04651 29 -0047 Jan 04 11:41:07 11016 -25318 P 1.2182 0.5976 66.9N 53.3E 0
04696 30 -0029 Jan 15 20:21:59 10829 -25095 P 1.2300 0.5754 68.0N 88.8W 0
04743 31 -0011 Jan 26 04:57:33 10645 -24872 P 1.2460 0.5453 69.0N 129.8E 0
04788 32 0007 Feb 06 13:24:00 10463 -24649 P 1.2693 0.5016 69.9N 9.8W 0
04834 33 0025 Feb 16 21:44:01 10283 -24426 P 1.2974 0.4485 70.7N 148.5W 0
04880 34 0043 Feb 28 05:54:27 10104 -24203 P 1.3329 0.3816 71.3N 74.7E 0
04925 35 0061 Mar 10 13:56:24 9928 -23980 P 1.3751 0.3017 71.7N 60.3W 0
04969 36 0079 Mar 21 21:49:07 9753 -23757 P 1.4245 0.2084 71.8N 166.7E 0
05014 37 0097 Apr 01 05:33:53 9579 -23534 Pe 1.4800 0.1036 71.7N 35.7E 0
The Gregorian calendar is used for all dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates. The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions ). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..
The coordinates of the Sun used in these predictions are based on the VSOP87 theory [Bretagnon and Francou, 1988]. The Moon's coordinates are based on the ELP-2000/82 theory [Chapront-Touze and Chapront, 1983]. For more information, see: Solar and Lunar Ephemerides. The revised value used for the Moon's secular acceleration is n-dot = -25.858 arc-sec/cy*cy, as deduced from the Apollo lunar laser ranging experiment (Chapront, Chapront-Touze, and Francou, 2002).
The largest uncertainty in the eclipse predictions is caused by fluctuations in Earth's rotation due primarily to tidal friction of the Moon. The resultant drift in apparent clock time is expressed as ΔT and is determined as follows:
A series of polynomial expressions have been derived to simplify the evaluation of ΔT for any time from -1999 to +3000. The uncertainty in ΔT over this period can be estimated from scatter in the measurements.
[1] The Moon's orbit is inclined about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. The points where the lunar orbit intersects the plane of Earth's orbit are known as the nodes. The Moon moves from south to north of Earth's orbit at the ascending node, and from north to south at the descending node.
[2]Central solar eclipses are eclipses in which the central axis of the Moon's shadow strikes the Earth's surface. All partial (penumbral) eclipses are non-central eclipses since the shadow axis misses Earth. However, umbral eclipses (total, annular and hybrid) may be either central (usually) or non-central (rarely).
[3]Hybrid eclipses are also known as annular/total eclipses. Such an eclipse is both total and annular along different sections of its umbral path. For more information, see Five Millennium Catalog of Hybrid Solar Eclipses .
[4]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is nearly equal to the instants of greatest magnitude and greatest duration. However, for annular eclipses, the instant of greatest duration may occur at either the time of greatest eclipse or near the sunrise and sunset points of the eclipse path.
The information presented on this web page is based on data published in Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. The individual global maps appearing in links (both GIF an animation) were extracted from full page plates appearing in Five Millennium Canon by Dan McGlaun. The Besselian elements were provided by Jean Meeus. Fred Espenak assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all eclipse calculations.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)"
